


One Lone Candle

by starr234



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Han Solo is a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 01:05:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13260372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starr234/pseuds/starr234
Summary: "We’re stronger together than we could ever be apart.  That’s what Vader doesn’t realize."





	One Lone Candle

When they arrived back at the _Falcon_ from Jabba’s sailbarge, a fierce sandstorm had sprung up. Squinting into the wind with watery eyes, covering their mouths and noses with sleeves, they stumbled up the ramp to take shelter and drifted silently in different directions – freshers, bunks, even the cockpit – to try and remove as much sand from their hair, eyes, and clothes as possible. 

Some time later, Luke sat in the lounge, emptying his boots out. Artoo rolled up and down the corridors, vacuuming sand up and trilling sadly at the mess. Chewie roared in frustration from the cockpit and Luke shook his head with a smile. Chewie would be finding sand in his fur for weeks – Luke knew all too well from his childhood that sand like this wouldn’t leave you. It had a way of getting everywhere and staying there. 

Luke finally admitted defeat, ran his hands through his hair one last time, and wandered down the corridor towards the crew quarters. The dull roar of the storm gave everything inside the ship a muted quality, as if he were travelling through a dream. It wasn’t an unusual feeling for him lately.

Inside the crew quarters, he found Leia curled up asleep in one of the bunks. Han sat next to her, staring intently at her sleeping form.

“Hey,” Luke said softly, settling onto one of the other bunks. “You alright?”

“Getting there,” Han said. “She wanted to sit with me while I slept, but I don’t think I ever want to sleep again.”

“I know the feeling,” Luke said. The nightmares he’d had after Bespin had almost convinced him that sleep was something he could live without. “It’ll get better.” 

Han nodded, not taking his eyes off of Leia.

“How’s your eyesight?”

“Better, now that we’re inside.” He looked at Leia for another minute, then said, almost to himself, “she’s so beautiful.”

Luke smiled. It was a combination of exhaustion and trauma, he knew, that had Han talking like this. The Han Solo that Luke remembered would never have said anything that honest in front of anyone else. But the Han Solo that Luke remembered was gone, just as the Luke Skywalker that Han remembered was gone. The events of the past few months had indelibly changed all of them.

“If that slime did anything to hurt her…”

“She’ll be fine,” Luke interrupted, not unkindly. Truth be told, the idea of Jabba laying a finger on Leia, and the humiliation she had gone through, made him rage too. But Jabba was beyond his reach now, and his rage would do nothing to help Leia. “She’s strong.” He paused, choosing his next words carefully. “And she has you to take care of her.”

Han finally looked up and met Luke’s eyes. He seemed to be searching for something. Permission, perhaps, or forgiveness. Whatever it was, he must have seen it, because he nodded and turned back to Leia, resting a tentative hand on her hair.

“How did she do it?” Han asked. “Boba Fett left Cloud City with me, and you came to Tatooine and got me. How did Leia and Chewie escape Vader? Did you rescue them?”

“They rescued me,” Luke admitted. “Lando helped them, and the droids, and they fought their way out. I was in the City core dueling with Vader and nearly died. I would have died, if not for them.” Or worse, he left unsaid.

“You don’t look that much worse for the wear,” Han commented. 

Wordlessly, Luke pulled back the black glove on his right hand, revealing the charred synthskin and exposed machinery. Han grimaced, but to his credit didn’t look away. 

“It was a setup from the start, kid. Vader was using us to get to you.”

“I know.” Luke shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you all got caught up in this.”

“Hey,” Han said. “You didn’t do this. Vader did. I could say I’m sorry he used us to reel you in, and it would be just as ridiculous.”

It was a speech Luke had given himself time and time again over the past few months, but it was different hearing it from someone else. “Thanks,” he said.

“Thanks for coming after me – both times. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course I did. Both times. You and Leia and Chewie – you’re my family.”

“Family,” Han repeated. “How ‘bout that. I never had much of a family. It’s always just been me and Chewie. And now it’s all of us”

“We’re in this together now,” Luke said. “We have to be. It’s the only way we’ll survive it.”

“Don’t worry, kid,” Han said. “Leia and me, we’re gonna take care of you too. Whatever happened to you up there – we won’t let it happen again.”

“I know,” Luke said, although he doubted they could stop it. He doubted any of them could stop it. Vader was too strong, and too determined, and Luke was still too shaken and scared.

_But that’s ok_ , he told himself. _It’s ok to be scared. Acknowledge it, and feel it. Just don’t let it control you._

“It’s like you said,” Han continued. “We’re in this together now.”

_And we’re stronger together than we could ever be apart. That’s what Vader doesn’t realize. He thought Han and Leia would be my weakness, but he was wrong._

“Han,” he said before he could lose his nerve. “I need to tell you something.”

“What?”

“On Cloud City, after he took my hand, Vader told me….” Luke trailed off. He hadn’t said this out loud yet, even to himself. Saying it out loud made it real. But maybe making it real would mean that he could acknowledge and accept it instead of letting it control him. He had let it control him for too long already. It was time to stop being afraid. “He told me that he’s my father.”

Han didn’t say anything for several long seconds. Finally, he said “Tough break, kid.”

Luke laughed softly. He didn’t know what reaction he had been expecting, but it hadn’t been that. “You can say that again.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I do.”

“You alright?”

Luke nodded. “I will be,” he said, and for the first time, he started to believe it. He’d said it out loud, and nothing had changed. _Darth Vader is my father, and I am the same person I was yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that._ He had friends – family, even – who loved him, and would still love him even knowing the truth.

And that love, more than the Alliance Starfleet, more than the Imperial Navy, even more than the Force, was the most powerful thing he had – powerful enough, he realized, to maybe, someday, ignite that small spark of Anakin Skywalker he knew was buried deep within Vader. He had to try.

He leaned back onto the bunk, closed his eyes and smiled. Maybe now he could finally get some rest. 

_We’re going to be alright. All of us. _

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve seen this clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsSKFlk8oEo) floating around in gif form lately, but the way Mark tells it now isn’t the way I first heard the story. When I first heard the story, back before the prequels, before Star Wars was cool, the punchline was that Harrison leaned over to Mark during the premiere right after the big reveal and said “tough break, kid.” I wanted to write that moment.
> 
> hey I have a tumblr starr234.tumblr.com


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